Newsletter No. 319

中大通訊 CUHK Newsletter 1. 本刊每月出版兩期，農曆新年和暑期停刊。 T he CUHK Newsletter is published on a fortnightly basis except during the Chinese New Year and summer vacation. 2. 截稿日期載於本刊網頁： Deadlines for contributions can be found at: www.cuhk.edu.hk/iso/newsletter/ 3. 來稿請寄沙田香港中文大學資訊處《中大通訊》編輯部（電話 2609 8681 / 2609 8589 ，傳真 2603 6864 ，電郵 iso@cuhk.edu.hk ） 。 All contributions should be sent to the Editor, CUHK Newsletter , Information Services Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (tel. 2609 8681 / 2609 8589; fax. 2603 6864; e-mail iso@cuhk. edu.hk ). 4. 編輯有權刪改及決定是否刊登來稿。 The Editor reserves the right to decline contributions and to edit all articles. 香港中文大學資訊處出版 Published by the Information Services Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 中大通訊 CUHK Newsletter 潛心科學教育的諾貝爾物理學人 Nobel Physicist and Notable Educator on Science Education 2 001年諾貝爾物理學獎得主卡爾 • 威曼教授於 5月21日在中大主講「新鴻基地產諾貝爾獎得 獎學人傑出講座系列」，與300名中大教職員、學 生和校友，以及來自政商界及教育界的人士，分 享嶄新科學教學方法。 當日講題為「二十一世紀的科學教育：用科學工 具來教科學」，威曼教授指出傳統的科學課堂和 考試，令許多老師無法準確掌握學生的學習情 況，甚至判斷錯誤。他隨而介紹了嶄新教學法和 科技的優勝之處，以及其符合認知科學的發現。 威曼教授在2007年加入英屬哥倫比亞大學，出任 該校卡爾 • 威曼科學教育計劃主任。這個為期五 年、耗資1,200萬美元的計劃，旨在全面改進本 科生的科學教育。過去幾年，他檢視過一些新課 程，並探討學生學習或者學習不果的原因。他特 別關注改進物理學的教學法，要使那些無意成為 物理學家的學生都能受益，更盼望有朝一日，大 部分人都會覺得物理學不難懂、有用和有趣味。 威曼教授採用和推廣埃里克 • 馬蘇爾的「朋輩教學 法」，即由老師在課堂上一再問一些多項選擇式 的問題，讓學生用遙控器作答，藉此即時知道學 生共同的錯誤觀念或誤解，然後促進學生互相討 論，求取正確答案。 曾獲傑出教師獎的威曼教授，於講座前與數十名 大學生及中學生對話，分享他對科學教與學的見 解與心得。 P rof. Carl E. Wieman, 2001 Nobel laureate in Physics, shared his ideas on science education at the Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lecture on 21 May at CUHK with an audience of about 300 comprising CUHK staff, students and alumni, and members of the political, commercial and education sectors. In a lecture entitled ‘Science Education in the 21st Century: Using the Tools of Science to Teach Science’, Prof. Wieman pointed out that traditional science classes and examinations may fail to be effective tools for gauging learning progress. He explained how other new practices and technology promised to be better options. He also demonstrated how these new practices conformed to the findings of cognitive science. Prof. Wieman joined the University of British Columbia in 2007 as the Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, a five-year, US$12M project aimed at improving undergraduate science education. Over the past several years, he has been examining alternative curricula and trying to understand how students do and do not learn. He shows particular concern for improving how physics is taught to students who do not intend to become physicists, in the hope of one day making physics understandable, useful, and interesting to a large fraction of the population. Prof. Wieman has used and promotes Eric Mazur’s ‘peer instruction’, a pedagogical system, where teachers repeatedly ask multiple-choice concept questions during class, and students reply on the spot with little wireless ‘clicker’ devices. This enables the identification of wrong concepts or misunderstanding in common and facilitates prompt discussion among students before their second attempt to arrive at the correct answer. An award-winning educator, Prof. Wieman also shared his thoughts on the teaching and learning of science with tertiary and secondary school students prior to the lecture. 高行健：在限制中尋找表現自由 Dr. Gao Xingjian on Infinite Freedom of Expression within Limitations 高 行健博士於5月23日假逸夫書院大講堂主 講以他為名的傑出講座，為「高行健藝術 節」揭開序幕。 高行健博士以「有限與無限─創作美學」為題， 與近500名中大師生及文化藝術界人士分享他的創 作觀。他說：「每一門藝術，都是要在各自的領 域中找尋自由的表述。可是，每一門藝術都有本 身的限定，因此這個自由不是無邊的。」所以藝 術家找尋他的「自由」之前，應先找尋他必須依 據的是什麼。 這位首位華人諾貝爾文學獎得主認為，在不顛覆 前人的前提下，是仍然可能就某一種藝術提出新 鮮看法的。以繪畫為例，不反對二度平面，不把 畫框畫布丟掉，仍可找到新的語言，提供新鮮的 形象；抽象畫就是例子。而他自己更在具象畫和 抽象畫以外，找到新鮮的表現形式，既非描摹狀 物，也非藝術家情感的表現，那就是「提示」， 是讓觀眾看畫時，用自身的經驗和聯想來豐富這 個形象。他更認為在這個方向以外還可有其他 方向。 演講結束後，高博士就江西故鄉對他的創作美學 的影響、家庭背景對他成就的影響、藝術突破與 觀眾的鑑賞力等課題，回應觀眾的提問。 D r. Gao Xingjian presented a Distinguished Public Lecture in his name at Shaw College Lecture Theatre on 23 May. The event marked the opening of the Gao Xingjian Arts Festival. In ‘The Finite and the Infinite: the Aesthetics of Creation’, Dr. Gao shared his approach to artistic creation with some 500 CUHK staff and students, and members of the cultural community. He pointed out that every form of art is confined to a finite set of limitations, that is, the key features that characterize its nature. In determining his/her own approach to creation, an artist must first acknowledge these limitations before exploring the infinite ‘freedom’ of expression within them. Dr. Gao, the first Chinese Nobel Laureate in Literature, believed that one can come up with fresh perspectives on art without having to premise one’s ideas on the subversion of predecessors. In painting, for instance, one can find a fresh pictorial language and create fresh images without opposing two-dimensionality or getting rid of the frame and canvas—abstract painting being a case in point. He himself has found a new form of expression outside figurative and abstract painting that is neither a faithful representation of reality nor an expression of the artist’s sentiments. It is something he terms ‘suggestion’ or ‘revelation’. The image created is completed by the spectator’s own experience and imagination. And he believed that there are still other forms of expression awaiting discovery. After the talk, Dr. Gao responded to questions from the audience about the influence of his hometown of Jiangxi on his creative aesthetics, the effects of his family back- ground on his achievements and artistic breakthroughs, and spectators’ capacity for critical appraisal.